rife
Americanadjective
-
of common or frequent occurrence; prevalent; in widespread existence, activity, or use.
Crime is rife in the slum areas of our cities.
-
current in speech or report.
Rumors are rife that the government is in financial difficulty.
-
abundant, plentiful, or numerous.
- Synonyms:
- teeming, multitudinous, plenteous
- Antonyms:
- scarce
-
abounding (usually followed bywith ).
adjective
-
of widespread occurrence; prevalent or current
rumour was rife in the village
-
very plentiful; abundant
-
(foll by with) abounding (in)
a land rife with poverty
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rife
before 1150; Middle English; Old English rīfe; cognate with Middle Dutch rijf abundant, Old Norse rīfr
Explanation
Use the adjective rife to mean "full of" or "widespread," especially when you're talking about something negative. If the lifeguard says the water is rife with jellyfish, you're not going to want to swim in it. Not to be confused with the word ripe (“fully developed”), rife means “abundant” or “prevalent.” Rife can follow the word it’s describing, as in “corruption was rife during his administration.” More commonly, however, rife comes before the word it modifies, accompanied by the preposition with, as in “the class was rife with yawns” or “her story was rife with inconsistencies.”
Vocabulary lists containing rife
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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This Week in Words: September 8 - 14, 2018
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sample some new snacks: Summer barbecues are rife with potato-chip mediocrity.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
The internet was rife with what sociologist Ray Oldenburg called “third places,” a space separate from home and work that encouraged social interaction and bred cohesion in communities.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
The 30-year-old enters the final year of his contract at Etihad Stadium and is yet to sign a new deal, with speculation rife about his future this summer.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Kate Chatfield, executive director of the California Public Defenders Assn., said the confusion has led to a system that is rife with “punitive and vague consequences.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The literature of veterinary medicine is rife with cases of animals stricken by swainsonine poisoning after eating damp forage contaminated with R. leguminicola.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
